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Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Album Review: "Disciples of the Inferno" by Abysmal Lord

It's October 27th and I'm closing out October with some more brutal death metal.

There will even be an added seriously scary metal album this week, because:

1) It's Halloween.

2) I love death metal.

3) I took my daughter to the pumpkin patch to get a pumpkin that we can decorate like Darth Vader.

But enough about me....let's talk about Abysmal Lord for a bit shall we? They are releasing their full length debut on vinyl and digital and it comes as the follow up to last year's EP, Unholy Black Mass.

Abysmal Lord

This album, I think, is the very definition of unpolished versus unfinished.

Many great bands have gone into the studio without having all of their homework done, and it showed in the final product.

Think of an album as an essay test.

If you're not ready, some of them will be great and others not so great.

This album, in many ways, sounds like the band had about $250 between them to record it and just went in and flat out blasted away. I find this to be endearing. It's easy nowadays to shape your record after it's done to make it sound like you just walked out of the Record Plant.

When a band leaves it as it is, it's raw, honest, and heavy.

Vocally this sounds like Venom and Deicide were both crushed underneath a cement mixer and this is the voice they both retained. It's harsh. It's bloody.

It's pure metal.

The drums jackhammer away like the first warning signs of a whiskey hangover. These aren't pretty drums. They just pound the rhythm. Neal Peart would probably hate this.

The guitars are thick and throaty, until the solo spots come round, then they become as shrill as Petunia Dursley. I hear a Kerry King influence, but only in timbre and phrasing. It's an odd mix.

Is this album unfinished? Certainly not. Is it unpolished? Good gods yes. It's dirty. There are mistakes. It will scare your cats.